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The most widely deployed mobile virtualization solution
Open Kernel Labs Blog
March 24, 2010
Made for Each Other - Mobile Operators and Virtualization
As I make my way out to International CTIA in Las Vegas, I want to highlight the importance of virtualization to the main audience for that event – Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). At CTIA you are likely to hear of virtualization as a key enabler of Cloud services and MNO offerings for corporate and personal data services. But of equal importance is the emerging role of virtualization on the “other end of the wire” – in mobile handsets.
Virtualization increasingly comprises a key software stack component in mobile handsets. While the hypervisor gets deployed on the handset itself and is part of OEM factory provisioning, its importance and value extends beyond the phone and across the mobile/wireless ecosystem.
While handset OEMs typically install a hypervisor, and chipset manufacturers variously enable virtualization technology, the requirement for mobile virtualization emanates from and benefits MNOs. Operators drive this and other requirements with their RFPs (requests for proposal) and with their clout as a prime channel for mobile hardware to consumers.
MNOs look to virtualization in current and next generation mobile offerings to
-Offer Consumers Low-cost Handsets with Greater Functionality
-Enhance Security of Devices on Operator Networks
-Support Operator-branded Services
-Streamline Software Platform Adoption
-Enable BYOD – Bring Your Own Device to the Office and on the Road
Let’s look at the three of these areas with the most visibility at CTIA:
Lowering Handset Costs
The smartphone segment of the wireless market is the fastest growing and the most interesting to mobile operators. With PC-like capabilities and a data-centric user experience, smartphones provide greater opportunities for enhancing and sustaining operator revenues through branded services, by hosting applications, and by supporting growing mobile data usage.
The relatively high cost of smartphones, however, has limited mass market uptake and kept operators from realizing the full potential of the smartphone business.
Mobile virtualization has the power to break down barriers to smartphone adoption and operator revenue potential by helping to deliver smartphone functionality at a feature phone price. OK Labs proved this ability by powering the Motorola Evoke and now can offer that same BoM-busting capability to the entire ecosystem with Android One Core, which we’re introducing at CTIA.
Security
When end-users think of security, they worry about viruses and other malware that wreak havoc on desktop PCs and may soon do the same to mobile devices. When operators think of security, they worry about supporting emerging end-user services like mobile payments and also about keeping their far-reaching networks safe from worms, denial-of-service attacks and other exploits that sap bandwidth, reduce capacity and hurt their relationships with subscribers.
The point of entry for black hats and their malware increasing lies in the open handsets in operator fleets and the software that runs them. By providing a security architecture for mobile client software, virtualization helps safeguard operator assets and the services they support. Mobile virtualization isolates mission-critical network interfaces and core services from open application platforms – compromised Android or other smartphone software doesn’t have to bring down the whole device or expose operator networks to further exploitation.
See the OK Labs demo “Security Delivered” at http://www.ok-labs.com/blog/entry/demo-mobile-virtualization-security-delivered/ for an example of using the OKL4 Microvisor to provide secure VoIP communications on an Android-based smartphone.
MNO-Branded Services
Operators face ongoing commoditization of their traditional offerings: voice is effectively free and raw data services demand ongoing network infrastructure investments with only minimal visible value-add to end-users. To preempt reduction to the status of a “data pipe”, operators must offer end-users branded services to earn their loyalty and sustain ARPU (average revenue per user) levels.
Mobile virtualization helps operators develop and deliver value-added services (e.g., location-based services, integration with social media, Cloud storage and applications) by supporting software deployment across a wider range of handsets, and by making that deployment fast and transparent to end-users. As you walk the floor of CTIA, think how virtualization can streamline rollout by providing a common, secure and interoperable services platform across handset models today and in future generations of mobile equipment.
Posted by Steve Subar on March 24 at 07:20 AM
About Steve Subar:
Steve Subar, CEO and President of OK Labs, has been an honored leader in the technology industry for 20 plus years and has received several accolades for his work. Steve is an avid runner who can also be found communing with his surfboard in Bondi Beach, Australia; skiing the slopes of Beaver Creek, Colorado; or searching for the perfect Pinot Noir all over the world.
Recent Entries:
- Meeting the Needs of Global Mobile Workforce with the Nirvana Phone
- Mobile Virtualization – Coming to a Smartphone Near You
- Made for Each Other - Mobile Operators and Virtualization
- Steve at MWC: Mobile Virtualization – a Gateway to Global Apps Stores
- Steve at MWC: MeeGo Merges Maemo and Moblin at MWC
Personal Site: